“Tell me what’s in the wind, Dick, for I believe you said your mother had some sort of scheme.”
“It’s just this way, sir,” explained Dick. “You know the Brandon place next door to the deacon’s is empty, and for rent, furnished or empty. My mother thought that if Tilly took that house, and just by accident, you see, little Billy managed to creep through a hole in the fence between the places, and Mr. Nocker happened to run across him, he might become interested in the child.”
“Whew! that’s the game, is it?” exclaimed Leslie.
Uncle Henry seemed to ponder over it for a full minute or so.
“There’s a chance it might work,” he finally admitted; “though a whole lot would depend on the lad himself, as well as the state Old Jed has reached. Some profess to believe he’s beginning to break under the strain. For myself I must confess I’ve seen no signs of it so far; he’s just as hard as ever.”
“Well, it might turn out that he’s trying to keep up a brave face even when he’s near breaking down,” said Dick, quickly. “My mother surprised him looking at a picture of Amos one day, and she is sure his eyes were wet. And as far as little Billy is concerned, sir, if you come over to our house and meet him, I think you’ll say he can turn the trick, if anything can.”
“Is he such a darling, then?” asked Uncle Henry, who, although an old bachelor himself, had a fondness for children.
“Wait till you see him, and then tell me, sir,” replied Dick, confidently.
“All right, we’ll go over with you now if you say so, Dick,” the generous gentleman hastened to say.
“And after you’ve met Tilly and her little boy, sir,” continued Dick, anxious to strike while the iron was hot, “if you think well of the scheme will you go and secure the Brandon house for a month, so they can move in tomorrow?”